Claude Allen --- What went wrong with a neo-conservative hero?

by

Gerald Plessner

May 24, 2006 - Claude Allen was the highest ranking African American in the George W. Bush White House when he was arrested for stealing from a suburban Washington Target store.

In a simple and obvious routine, Allen went into the store, purchased a number of items, some costing only a few dollars. He took them to his automobile, and then returned to the store with the receipt and filled another bag with the same items. Allen then went to the customer service desk and claimed a refund for his alleged purchase of the second set of products. On January 2, 2006 a Target store manager caught Allen at work and reported him to the police. Allen did this a number of times, netting all of $5,000.

When questioned about the specific incident, Allen lied to White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr., saying there was a mixup because of his recent change of address.

A man of considerable promise and intellect, Allen got himself caught in a dumb routine, which he did a number of times in the same store! He probably didn't need the money. His salary was $161,000 a year, the highest pay for a White House staff member. He and his wife had recently purchased a house costing $1 million.

What went wrong with Claude Allen? Was there something in the background of a successful black man who reached high levels of the Republican party and the neo-conservative community? Did something make him act in such a self-destructive manner?

Or is there something in his conservative ethos that lead him to believe that he could get away with acts for which others should be punished?

Claude Allen was an important symbol for the Bush administration. He's the black man you saw walking away from the helicopter with the president. He sat next to First Lady Laura Bush at the 2006 State of the Union address, having helped write the speech.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina and the Duke University Law School, he was one of the first African Americans to serve on the staff of then-Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina.

While serving as a clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals, he developed a close friendship with then-Judge Clarence Thomas, who is often referred to as his mentor. He was twice nominated to the Federal bench by George W. Bush.

Allen had all the credentials of a certified and tested neo-conservative. He served on the staff of a conservative (and race-baiting) senator. As a Virginia public official he denied a low-income rape victim Medicaid funds for an abortion. He was an advocate for allowing military academy chaplains to cite Jesus Christ in prayers at non-sectarian military gatherings. He advocated for abstinence-only AIDS prevention programs. His four children are home schooled. He and his wife are Evangelical Christians, and he favors a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Why would a man like Claude Allen do something so immoral, so stupid and so self-destructive?

I have observed that there are two characteristics shared by most more-intelligent crooks: Entitlement and stupidity. They think they are entitled to have what they take. They have the right to steal because their victims are too stupid, or too weak, or too rich. They deserve to have what they are taking because society, their parents or the police have done them wrong and nobody knows just how good and deserving they really are.

Most crooks are also rather stupid. Not in terms of brain power but rather in common sense. They believe that crime can pay and that everyone else is stupid. They know exactly what is right, what will work, and what will give them exactly what they want.

And anyway, their victims don't deserve their possessions because they are stupid, vile, a different color or religion, or poor. Their victims just don't matter.

But why would a good conservative man do something like that? Because there is a doctrine within the modern neo-conservative philosophy espoused by people like James Dobson of Focus on the Family and other ministers, which states that the successful should be rewarded and the unsuccessful should not be coddled. Unless they can get ahead by themselves, they don't deserve support or prosperity.

That's why Claude Allen thought he deserved what he took, and it is why we are seeing a rash of criminality among neo-conservative politicians, in Washington and elsewhere.

In Clause Allen's case there was one other factor that made him unique. As an African-American man who really wanted to succeed in a white man's world, he went to work for the likes of Jesse Helms, denying his heritage and presumable his family's principles.

Stealing from Target was an easy next step.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.